Crestwood is 10-0 against the Gators since February of 2018, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Friday. The Crestwood Knights will head out on the road to face off against the Lakewood Gators at 6:00 p.m. Crestwood is coming into the contest hot, having won their last six games.
On Wednesday, Crestwood took their match on the road with ease, bagging a 61-33 win over the Bulldogs. Given Crestwood's advantage in MaxPreps' South Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 76th, while the Bulldogs are ranked 227th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Crestwood's win was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Saniya Williams, who scored 19 points along with four steals. Williams hasn't dropped below 19 points for six straight games. Javiah Martin was another key contributor, scoring 18 points along with six rebounds and six steals.
Meanwhile, Lakewood had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 11.5 points), and they went ahead and made it three on Tuesday. They were the clear victor by a 52-28 margin over Marlboro County. The contest was all but wrapped up at the end of the third, by which point Lakewood had established a 20 point advantage.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Lakewood to victory, but perhaps none more so than Zakiya Hodge, who scored 20 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Lauryn Nesmith, who scored 12 points.
Crestwood pushed their record up to 13-7 with that victory, which was their third straight on the road. Those good results were due in large part to their offensive dominance across that stretch, as they averaged 57.7 points per game. As for Lakewood, their win bumped their record up to 8-10.
Crestwood didn't have too much breathing room in their match against the Gators in their previous meeting two weeks ago, but they still walked away with a 49-44 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for Crestwood since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
